Page 117 - The Arts of China, By Michael Sullivan Good Book

of the Buddhist dharma ("law"), radiates with a blinding light
across the universe. By this elevation to a status parallel to that of
the Hindu Brahma, the Buddha receded far beyond the reach of
mortal man. Bhakti, the adoration of a personal god, expressed in
Hinduism in the love of Krishna, demanded a more approachable
deity. So there came into existence the bodhisattva ("one destined
for enlightenment"), who has postponed his own end that he
might bring help and comfort to suffering mankind. Of the bo-
dhisattvas, the most popular was Avalokitesvara ("the Lord who
looks down [in mercy]"), who on his translation to China as
Kuan-yin became identified both with his female reflex, Tara, and
with the ancient Chinese mother-goddess, and thus impercepti-
bly acquired female sex—a process that was complete by the end
of the tenth century. Almost as important were Manjusri
(Chinese, Wen-shu) the god of wisdom, and Maitreya, the deity
who, though now still a bodhisattva, will in the next cycle descend
to earth as the Buddha; to the Chinese he has become Mi-lo-fu, the 121 Sakyamum Buddha, Gilt bronie.
Dated equivalent to 3 j« a. n. Six
pot-bellied "god of wealth" who sits grinning at the entrance of
Dynasties.
every temple. In time the pantheon grew to extraordinary propor-
tions, the vast array of Buddhas and bodhisattvas being attempts to
express the infinite aspects and powers of god. These develop-
ments were, however, for the theologians and metaphysicians.
The common man needed only the comfort of Avalokitesvara, or
the secure knowledge that, merely by speaking once the name of
the Buddha Amitabha, he would on quitting this world be reborn
MAf 7 The spread of Buddhism from
in his western paradise beyond the sunset.
India into central and eastern Asia.